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June 17, 2013

Filthy Review - '12 Rounds 2: Reloaded'

12 Rounds 2:
Reloaded (2013)

Review by Jude
Felton

Say what you
will about WWE head honcho, Vince McMahon, but there’s no denying that he’s an
incredibly shrewd businessman. He knows full well that the WWE franchise is
huge business, the shows are watched by millions and his bank account probably
looks very healthy indeed. So, when WWE Studios make a movie, they know that
they already have a built in audience, ready to lap it up.

The latest is
12 Rounds 2: Reloaded, which is a sequel to the 2009 John Cena vehicle. As was
the case with The Marine, the sequel does not feature the muscle-bound patriot,
but instead introduces to the big screen a far more interesting wrestler; that
being Randy Orton. Orton’s wrestling persona is very entertaining, that I will
admit, so I was intrigued to see how he would adapt to starring in his own
movie.

The plot of
12 Rounds 2 follows Orton’s character, Nick Malloy, who is a paramedic. Whilst
out on an emergency call, in an abandoned part of town, the victim receives a
phone-call. Upon answering, Malloy finds out it is for him, and so begins the
game. You see, at the other end of the phone is a psychopath who lives in the most
high-tech dingy corridor I have ever seen, and he wants Malloy to play along
with his sick game.

The game
consists of 12 rounds, no less, and Nick must complete all of them, without
bringing the police into it, or else his wife dies. So, what’s a heavily
tattooed former wrestler-come-paramedic going to do? Well, I’d like to say that
he opens a can of whoop-ass and beats the ever-loving shit out of everyone he
meets. Alas to say, it’s actually all very formulaic stuff.

Admittedly, it is
well made and Orton does put in a decent shift. He wasn’t quite as impressive
as The Miz ended up being, in The Marine 3, but he far from embarrasses himself.

So, what we
get is pretty much 90 minutes of non-stop action, car chases, foot races, a few
fights, some wise-cracks, incompetent cops, blackmail, politics and a fairly
uninspired bad guy.

Was it
terrible? No, not really. Like I said, it was well made, and the action
sequences were decent and it moves along at a fair clip. The problem is that it
offers up nothing new; a man must complete tasks or wife loved one dies. It’s
been done before, and it looks like it’ll be soon done again in the upcoming
Getaway. So, 12 Rounds 2 won’t tax your mind and if you are a devout WWE fan I
am guessing you’ll dig seeing Orton headlining a movie. I personally feel that
there are better roles out there for him, so I won’t write him off.

The Blu-ray
itself looked and sound fairly impressive and it does come complete with a
solid selection of extras, such as an audio commentary and a handful of
featurettes, along with the DVD and Digital copy of the film. You are getting
your money’s worth here, even if the film isn’t all that special.

As for WWE
Studios, I still maintain that their best movie to date is the Kane vehicle,
See No Evil, and quite frankly I’d like to see them visit the horror genre
again. Still, these movies I am sure make their money back, and with the case
of 12 Rounds 2, they don’t embarrass themselves.

12 Rounds 2:
Reloaded is action-packed entertainment, yet it is also very uninspired in
terms of plot and execution.